A Paladin's Tale
by Elesthiliia
Summary: When Amelia, a self-exiled Brotherhood of Steel Paladin eager to forget her past, runs into her salvation in the form of a mysterious stranger in a blue dress, they embark on a journey fated to change the destiny of the very wasteland they walk. Rated M for smut and violence along the way.
1. Chapter 1: Dawn

**A Paladin's Tale**

This story is set in the same timeline as my previous Fallout fanfic, _From Cottonwood Cove to the Mountains of Rome_, and takes place soon after, though it is not a direct sequel. Some elements and characters from the previous story may be present in future chapters. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The sound of gunshots startled Amy as she bolted upright in bed from her deep slumber. It pitch black outside, apart from the occasional yellow flashes lighting up and silhouetting vague shapes on her dusty opaque windows. Still a little dazed, she scratched her eyes and fumbled for her watch from the bedside table: it was exactly midnight. Sighing, Amy grabbed her laser rifle from the bed side dresser and dragged herself towards the door. Slipping on a trench coat, she considered get into something else a little more protective than her nightwear, but decided they would have to do.

A knock sounded just as she reached the door. Opening it, she let Marcus in from the chilly mountain air.

"What is it this time?" she asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Snipers on the east side of town," he panted, a little out of breath, though his tone as calm as always. "I think two. They've already taken out two of us and a lot of our bighorners."

"What about Lily? Is she okay?"

"She's safe in the lodge, although I wish I could say the same about Keene. He's running around trying to rally the Nightkin into fighting the attackers. Doc's inside trying to calm him down for now, but if this goes on for much longer I'm afraid he's going to get them all killed."

She sighed. "I'll see what I can do about those snipers."

Amy darted out of her bungalow across to the adjacent one, her golden skin gleamed gently in the pale moonlight. Flicking a switch on her scope, she brought the rifle to her shoulder and scanned the horizon.

"Bingo," she murmured as she lined up the circular reticle with the crouched figure she spotted half hidden behind a large pine tree. Squeezing the trigger she watched the figure fall backwards and disintegrate into a pile of ash. Suddenly, the bungalow wall by her face exploded and she flung herself back around the corner.

"Fuck!" she cried, grabbing her grazed cheek. _Wake up, Amy! What's wrong with you? Focus!_

Suddenly, the town was basked in a warm, red glow from a suspended ball of light in the night sky. Looking up, Amy shook her head and chuckled as she traced the smoke from the flare to its source in the mountain.

"Amateur," she muttered.

Turning a dial on the rear of her rifle anti-clockwise, she dashed around the bungalow to the next for a better angle and brought the scope up to her face once more. The figure wasn't too hard to spot: crouched beside a rock, a scoped Assault Rifle by his face, scanning the buildings in the town for his target. Taking deep, slow breaths, she carefully aligned the reticle with her target's leg, and rested her finger against the trigger. Pausing her breathing, she carefully pulled the trigger back and watched the bolt of light hit her target's thigh, causing him to buckle backwards and grasp his leg in pain.

Amy shot up and dashed towards the town entrance, then up into the mountain towards her wounded prey. The red glow of the flare still lit the forest floor, and it didn't take her long to locate her target, now leaning against the grey rock. She shot a warning shot by his torso, startling him.

"Do anything silly and you'll be a sorry pile of ash," she hissed as the man raised his hands up by his head.

"Please... It was only a job! I... I need the caps!"

"Yes, and fairly new to the business too, aren't you? True, you can see a lot more with a flare, but it does tend to give away your location, doesn't it?"

He nodded.

"Now to business: who sent you?"

The man continued to pant, but otherwise remained silent. Amy rolled her eyes and adjusted the dial on her rifle, this time turning it clockwise, and pointed it back at him.

"At this power and range, you'd definitely be ash no matter where I shoot. So tell me. Who sent you?"

The man whimpered. "If I tell you... They're going kill me anyway."

"If I've learned anything in the past five years, the Wasteland's a big enough place to hide. So you can either try your luck with them later, or right now running away with that leg and my aim."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Our gang was contracted, but I don't know who by. We were supposed to provoke them, do anything to make them mad. Boss even said they'd even give us a bonus if we took out a few muties along the way too."

"If you don't know who contracted you, then who does?"

"Just the boss I guess."

"Where can I find him?"

He paused, frowning, his lips tight shut. Amy sighed, and raised the rifle to his head.

"Last chance. Where can I find him."

"Oh fuck," he whimpered. "I'm so dead for this... Monte Carlo Suites. You can find _her_ at the Monte Carlo Suites. It's south of Westside."

"Thank you. Now that wasn't too hard now, was it?" Amy smiled, lowering her rifle as she walked up to him. "Now let's have a look at that leg."

Amy hit the butt of the rifle against his head, lumped his unconscious body over her shoulder and made her way back to the entrance of Jacobstown where Marcus was waiting for her.

"So?" he asked, as Amy dropped the man onto the ground between them. "What's the news?"

"These guys are different from the last bunch. Amateurs. But that's not the only thing that's changed. Last time their orders were to cause general disruption and provoke a response right? Well this time they've got orders to kill a few of you off too."  
"Probably got tired of waiting for that response."

"But then why send amateurs? Why not proper mercenaries like before? They'd take more of us out that way. I've got a lead. He said his bunch were camping out south of Westside, and their leader knows more about their contractors."

"Look, Amelia, I really appreciate your concern for us, but don't worry about it. There's no point getting into further trouble."

"Marcus, if this goes on for much longer, they're going to pick you off one by one until you're all dead! This is supposed to be a sanctuary for your kind! And think of the Nightkin. The only chance of curing them is here. Without Jacobstown, they'll be no hope for mutants in the area. Please, let me help you."

"But you've already helped us so much, ever since you got here."

"You took me in and let me stay. Jacobstown is my home now too, and I will do everything in my power to protect my home and my family."

He frowned. "In that case, I guess I can't really stop you... Thank you, Amy. We owe you a lot."

"Oh, Marcus..."

Amy reached her arms out towards the mutant as he pulled her in and the couple embraced.

"You be careful out there, okay?"

Amy pulled back and nodded. "I'll leave in the morning. Say goodbye to Lily for me will you?"

Marcus nodded as Amy started walking back to her bungalow.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," she said, turning back to the mutant. "Could you have Hudson take a look at his leg? I'd like to take him with me tomorrow."

"Will do," he smiled. "Goodnight, Amy."

"Goodnight, Marcus."


	2. Chapter 2: Where is Monte Carlo anyways?

**Chapter 2**

It was early afternoon when Amy and Rick, the sniper, reached Westside, the first signs of human civilisation she had seen for several months. Not that she missed it. Ever since she stumbled across and settled in Jacobstown 4 years ago, she rarely ventured back out into the Wasteland again apart from the occasional trading for supplies when Calamity wasn't available. The place which had once been enshrouded with mystery and adventure had now become nothing more than a barren land scared with torment and regret. Jacobstown had been her quiet sanctuary she dearly needed to escape from the memories of her past life with the Brotherhood of Steel. A place to recover from the horrors of Helios five years ago.

As they passed the entrance to the town, she felt the suspicious stares from the several awed guards summing her up. An action she was once so used to receiving and giving herself now felt completely foreign and even made her feel a little threatened. But she couldn't really blame them. Recon armour wasn't easy to come by, nor did many people know how to operate it.

Trying her best to ignore them, they continued south along the road, and soon enough, the decaying five story cyan building came into sight. Crouching down by a rusted motorcade, she gathered her chocolate hair, slipped on her helmet and unholstered the rifle. Bringing the scope up to her face, she scanned the car park and the surrounding buildings. Two guards by the entrance.

"Can you get us in peacefully?" she asked her partner.

"I don't see why not."

Amy lowered her rifle and stood up.

"Let's go then."

Rick waved to his gang members and led Amy towards the entrance.

"Who's this?" coughed one of the guards as they approached.

"She's got business with the boss. She won't be trouble, I promise."

"It's on your head. Get on in then."

He opened the door and the two of them slipped inside, away from the baking afternoon sun. The inside wasn't much, like most other buildings in the wastes. The wallpaper had long gone disintegrated, leaving the slowly unplastering walls completely bare. They turned right and followed the dirty red carpet lined corridor towards the other end of the building and stopped in front of the only room with a properly functioning door. Rick knocked.

"What?" spat a irritated female voice from the other side of the door.

"It's Rick. I'm back from the job, and I have someone who wants to talk business with you."

Amy heard the scrape of a chair, followed by loud footsteps towards the door. As the locks clicked the voice started again.

"I told you, I'd meet you on the Strip when the job's- Oh... I thought you were... Someone else." She was a couple of inches shorter and less built than Amy, but then again, most people were. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun. She turned to Rick. "So is it done?"

"About that..."

"That's what I would like to have a word with you about," Amy interrupted as the woman's eyes darted back to her. "And I was hoping we could come to some sort of arrangement that would benefit us both?"

The woman remained silent. Then carefully, she eyes slowly scanned up and down Amy's body, inspecting her. Finally she spoke.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know who hired you, and where I can find them."

She laughed and slowly strolled back into the room over to crumbling dressing table.

"You sound like a woman with an agenda. Why do you care?"

Amy followed her in. "I have my reasons."

"And what are you offering for the price of the information?"

Amy unfastened the Recharger Pistol from her hip and placed it on the table in front of the woman.

"I don't use energy weapons," she said bluntly and pushed it aside.

"In this condition it's worth a thousand caps."

She froze, staring at the weapon. Taking a deep breath, she turned towards Amy.

"How can I help you?"

Amy smiled. "Who contracted you?"

"A senator from the NCR. Morales, I think his name was. I hear he's trying to gain some favour from them mutie haters."

"Where can I find him?"

"I'm supposed to meet him when the job's done on the Strip. Said he'd be staying over at Gomorrah, not that I'm surprised. Seems like that sort of guy, the dick."

"Thank you." Amy turned around and was about to leave when the woman called out after her.

"Wait. That's all you wanted? A thousand fucking caps and I get two questions?"

"It's important. Besides, I didn't have anything else to trade."

"How're you planning on getting into the Strip?"

Amy paused. She remembered hearing rumours over the radio that the credit check for getting onto the strip had recently gone up, and she knew she didn't have the caps to afford that.

"I'll think of something."

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Here, take this." She opened the drawer of her dressing table and pulled out a Gomorrah chip and a card. "This is the passport he gave me to get in. Guess I won't be needing it anymore. And this chip's to get into Gomorrah."

Amy looked puzzled.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Never liked that sly little fucker."


	3. Chapter 3: Den of Iniquity

**Chapter 3**

The lights of the New Vegas Strip danced gleefully against the twilight sky as Amy made her way along Freeside's "high street" towards the securitron armed gate. She felt a little uneasy in her change of clothes, a creamy floral dress she bought from a corner shop near the Freeside's east gate, especially walking down a street infamous for thug ambushes. Perhaps she should have agreed to hire the escort at the other entrance. After all, 100 caps is a price worth paying for Jacobstown, and it would have probably helped her blend in a little too.

Suddenly, a single bang ricocheted throughout the street. Amy leapt round, startled, ready to pull out the revolver strapped onto her thigh. By her feet lay a blood soaked corpse of a thug. Looking up, she saw a lone figure in a blue dress and white hat some distance away, holstering her rifle.

"Thanks," she called out after the stranger.

"Don't mention it," waved the figure before she turned around and made her way back down the street.

Amy continued her way back towards the Strip. Upset, she scolded herself.

_ Damn it, Amy! You're getting slow... How didn't you hear that thug? He was right behind you! Come on, get your senses back! You're not in Jacobstown any more. _

"Halt," buzzed a securitron as she approached the check point. "Please submit to a credit check or declare your passport."

Amy pulled out the plastic chip from her handbag and slotted it into the robot's torso. The drive whizzed for a moment as the securitron processed the passport.

"Welcome back to the Strip, Miss – Baker, D. I hope your journey was well. Mr – Morales, Senator, is waiting for you in – the Gomorrah casino, suite – 1-1-0-2. Notifying him you have arrived... Please proceed and – have a nice day."

The securitron removed the passport and handed it back to Amy as the gates behind it opened up, revealing the sight of sin itself to her. She made her way in, taking in the grand spectacle of the vibrant lights and sound. She had never seen anything quite like it, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Drunken soldiers, dazed men, crying women, she saw them all in this den of iniquity. Frowning, she scanned the skyline, looking for the casino she had been directed to when the silhouetted plaque in the shape of two nude women caught her eye.

_Wow... well that's subtle..._

Amy made her way over to the building, trying to ignore the dancing strippers and the crowds that had formed around them in front of the entrance. As she passed them, she couldn't help but wonder whether this area was called the "pick-up point" in the Old World because it was where you picked up your fun for the night or not. Inside, she was stopped by a guard who took his sweet time patting her down. Luckily, he didn't pick up the concealed revolver.

"Good evening, miss," called out the receptionist as Amy made her way across to the desk. "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a Senator Morales," she said, handing over the golden Gomorrah chip. "I have an appointment with him."

"Ah yes, he said he was expecting a visitor. 11th floor, suite number 2. If the two of you need anything at all, just buzz the intercom and we'll be right up. Please, enjoy your stay."

The elevator clunked uneasily as it slowly ascended to Amy's destination. She inspected the various posters decorating the bleak interior, all of them filled with pictures of bare women with their names written underneath. A couple of them had been crossed out with thick red ink.

"_Sheee_'s a sweet piece of aaasss... if you're innnteressted," said the a drunk cowboy she shared the ride with, prodding the photo of a pear-shaped fair girl named Claire. "Reeeally playful, that one."

"Err... Yeah, thanks."

"Sayyy you'rrrre not too bad yourself, sugar," he said sluggishly, a smug smile on his face. "Wanna join me for a drink sometime?"

"Erm, I'm... quite alright, thank you," said Amy, chuckling.

"I got tha caps if that's what yerrr want."

"I have enough, thanks."

"Aaaaww, well suit yourself, sweeeetie. I'm in roooom 804 if ya change yaar mind. Feel free to drop down... in... by... any time. Bye-byeee," he smiled, tapping his finger on Amy's nose before falling backwards onto the floor the doors opened. Amy laughed and waved him goodnight as the doors closed and the lift continued.

Finally, she got off on the 11th floor and made her way to the Senator's suite. Barely knocking twice, the double doors swung inwards and she was greeted by a tall dark haired man in a deep blue suit, an NCR badge pinned to his left collar.

"You're not exactly who I was expecting," he said, his voice firm and confident.

"Daisy couldn't make it, so she asked me to collect instead."

"I see. Please, come in. Sit yourself down, gorgeous."

He lead Amy towards the sofa and gestured towards it before continuing to the bar. She sat down by the armrest and placed her right hand over her left thigh, beside the revolver. Wondering what position to sit in with easy access to her weapon without raising too much suspicion, she shuffled about a little, and finally settled on crossing her legs with her left on top, her skirt a little pulled back on the right. She felt a little uneasy. Suppose this did go awry, could she really get herself out after being away from the game for so long?

"Name your poison," he called out from the bar.

"I'm sorry?" asked Amy, startled.

"Your drink? What would you like?"

"Oh...," she sighed in relief. _Concentrate, Amy! You'll be fine. _

"They've got pretty good Scotch here. Would you like to join me?"

Amy never really liked all that much alcohol, hard liquor even less. "Gin and tonic will do, thank you."

"Right you are," he murmured as he began preparing the drinks. "So, how did the job go? Did they fight back?"

"We took out half of their bighorners, and managed to take out a couple muties too, but still, they didn't fight back. Just like you told us before, they hid in lodge for the rest of the night." Better to lie than to tell him the whole truth, she thought. If she didn't make it back out, she didn't want Morales to achieve whatever goal he might have.

"Damn it!" he muttered under his breath as he made his way over to join Amy. He sat down beside her, a little too close for her comfort, and handed her the drink. She took a sip and rested it on her leg. "You sure you took out some of those green bastards?"

"Yeah, two of them. We waited till morning but they didn't come out again."

"Well that's a shame. I guess we'll have to try something a little more direct next time."

"I don't think we ever asked, why do you want to get rid of these mutants? They don't seem to be bothering the NCR or anybody for that matter." She took another sip from the glass and decided that it had a little too much rum for her liking.

"Oh I was just hoping to gain some favour from my backers that's all. They hate mutants, that lot. It's all politics, my deary, you wouldn't be interested in that."

"And you don't plan on stopping any time in the near future?" She began to feel a little woozy. Wow, she thought, she hadn't even drank that much yet.

"You seem awfully interested in my side of this whole affair, don't you?"

"Just curious about the job, that's all. Not every day you're told to go mutant hunting by the NCR."

"Not every day a beauty like you walks into my hotel room."

Amy froze as she saw the mischievous smile grow on Morales's face. Could it be?

"How's the drink?" he grinned.

_Shit. _

She went for her gun, withdrawing it from its strap but he stopped her. Giving her wrist a little shake and Amy lost grip of it and dropped it on the floor, her muscles weakening. She tried to pull away, but it was too late. He pinned her down to the sofa, the rest of her drink spilling over her legs. She tried to cry out, but all she could manage was a soft whimper. The room around her began spinning and she soon lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4: Sodomy in Gomorrah

**Chapter 4**

Amy awoke to the sound of a gentle hum of the air-conditioning and the smell of cigarette smoke. She felt cold, and her head was still spinning. She pulled her arms towards her, but they were tied by the wrists. Her eyes darted open and her suspicions were confirmed: she lay completely naked atop a queen sized bed, her arms and legs spread out and bound to the four posters. She gasped and began tugging at the strands of cloth trapping her.

"Well hello, beautiful," taunted Morales, sitting on a chair by the bed side before taking another puff from his cigarette. "I was beginning to think that I'd have to start without you for a moment there, but that would be no fun now, would it?"

He blew the warm smoke over her bare body as Amy shivered in disgust and turned away.

"Nice bush," he chuckled, staring insatiably at her lightly trimmed sex before running his fingers through the thin brown hair. "It suits you."

She launched her body at him, but was thrown back into the bed by her bindings. He smiled.

"I'm glad I waited until you woke up. You seem like one kinky bitch."

He ripped off his shirt and tore down his pants as his hungry cock popped out, his gaze fixated on Amy's body. Slowly, he crawled onto the bed and leant over her, before brushing a finger down from her forehead and traced the bridge of her nose, past her full lips and chin, down her tanned chest and and through her cleavage, and finally stopped at her belly button, giving it a little wiggle.

"Such a gorgeous little creature!" He grabbed Amy's forehead with one hand, her jaw with another while squeezing her cheeks and forced his lips into hers. Amy tugged as hard as she could at her bindings while resisting his repulsive kiss. Finally, her right arm came loose and slammed hard into his face, knocking him off her. She recoiled her arm back and readied a punch, but before she could, he jumped at it and pinned it down against the bed. He climbed over her again and rested his pulsating cock on her carpet, her arm still pinned down.

"Feisty little thing, ain't ya?" he grinned maniacally. "I like that."

"Fuck off you fucking shit!"

He slapped her with his free hand, disorientating Amy as the pain shot through her cheek and across her face.

"Looks like you're gonna need a lesson in manners, young lady."

He grabbed her left breast and squeezed it, bringing tears to her eyes, before shoving his fully erect shaft deep into her womb and began riding her. She struggled, her face clenched with rage as hate filled every muscle in her body. He leant down to her neck and bit it, but that was it, she was ready.

Smashing her head against his, he withdrew his head back in an attempt to shout in her face. She slammed her forehead into his nose as blood splattered out, across their bodies. His cock slipped out of her as he tried to get away, but she jolted her hips upwards and slammed her abdomen hard into his groin, causing him to cry out. He fell over onto the bed beside her wincing in pain, one hand clutching his profusely bleeding nose, the other his balls. She smashed his face with her free fist, over, and over, and over again, screaming at the top of her lungs. Finally, she fell back onto her back, panting, her body entirely exhausted. She looked at his broken face, blood endlessly oozing into the bed sheets, and was content that he wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Sitting up, she grabbed the binding that tied her left wrist to the bed and yanked until it too ripped apart. Hastily, she untied her feet and stumbled off the bed and across the floor towards the puddle that was her belongings. Rolling around and resting her back against the wall, she grabbed her revolver and emptied its contents into the body on the bed before throwing the gun aside. She closed her eyes and breathed, calming herself down. Finally, she slowly got up, using the wall as support, and walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the bathroom.

She stood dazed under the shower for what felt like hours, letting the water run over her form. When she finally regained some conscious thought, she began scrubbing herself clean of whatever her assailant may have left on her and embraced herself. She had stopped him. She was safe. She was stronger. She had won.

She stuck her face into the stream of water and ran her hands across it, massaging her temple. Satisfied she was clean, she turned off the water and dried herself with a fresh towel. She headed back upstairs again, ignoring the bed, and began dressing. She knew she had to get out of there fast. The longer she stayed the more likely someone could come across the scene. As soon as she finished she gathered her things and darted out of the suite and into the elevator, impatiently waiting as it rumbled downwards. Once it reached ground floor, she strode across the casino floor, ignored the pleasantries from the greeter, and disappeared into the wasteland.


	5. Chapter 5: Solace

Finally managed to find some time to continue the story. Sorry for the wait... if there is anyone waiting that is...

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The sky had changed from pitch black to an inky blue by the time Marcus caught a glimpse of Amy staggering up the road in the distance. He dropped his gun and ran to her as fast as he could, catching her as she fell into his chest.

"Amy!" he cried, pulling her in close as she panted against his warm chest. "Amy, what happened to you?!"

"Marcus... I'm f-fine... J-Jacobstown's safe," she stuttered, her knees buckling beneath her.

"Let's get you to bed. You need rest."

She nodded and Marcus picked her up, heading back towards town. She leaned into his warmth, her hand resting against his muscular chest. He continued speaking for a while, but she couldn't make sense of anything. Just his skin vibrating under her hand and that calm, familiar voice soothing her ears, easing her into a deep sleep.

* * *

The sunlight shone brightly through the cracks in the boarded up window as she woke up. Clothed. Thank god. She scratched her eyes and sat up to the view of her familiar empty room, exactly the way she left it. She reached to her bedside table for her watch, and realised it was still on her wrist. 11:17. She was starving.

Slipping out of bed and of her recon armour she had somehow managed to sleep in without gaining a stiff neck, she put on a tank top and a pair of saggy trousers and lazed over to the fridge. Giving the potato salad from 2 days ago a sniff, she decided it was still alright, and tucked in to it at the dining table. A few minutes later a knock sounded on the door. It was Marcus. He let himself in and pulled up an arm chair to the table and sat opposite Amy.

"I thought I'd check up on you," he whispered, a gentle, comforting smile about his lips. "How're you doing?"

"Much better now. Thanks for hauling me in last night."

There was a slight pause.

"What happened, Amy?"

She frowned and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it. Suffice to say, _they_ won't be bothering Jacobstown any more."

"I heard on the radio this morning about an NCR senator found dead on the Strip. That wasn't you by any chance was it?"

"Maybe," she muttered, dropping her spoon and staring down at the dirty red carpet.

"Amy..."

"That pig fucking deserved it," she lashed out, her arm sending the empty bowl flying off the table as tears filled her eyes. Marcus launched forwards and held her against him as she broke down into his chest, sobbing.

"It's okay, Amy," he whispered, his hand gently stroking her head as he kissed her forehead. "You're safe now."

Amy pulled herself closer into him, her ear pressing hard against the comforting sound of his thumping heart. She always felt a sense of security in his arms, as if nothing could harm her so long as they stuck together. That Marcus would drive men like Morales far away and protect her at all cost. She never wanted to let him go.

Suddenly, the two of them leapt with fright as a loud bang tore through the valley, followed by the sound of shattered glass crashing down around the resort lodge.

"What was that?" asked Amy as she wiped the tears from her face, scanning the room for her rifle.

"Damn that stranger!" he muttered, grabbing his rifle and headed for the door. "I shouldn't have let her in."

"Stranger? What stranger?" she asked, grabbing her own and following him out.

"Amy stay here." His tone was firm. "I'll handle this."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," she muttered, pushing past him towards the lodge.

Most of the windows towards the north were either cracked or broken, and the sound of wailing nightkin echoed from behind the front doors. Amy slowly pushed it open. Several nightkin were on the ground with their hands over their ears, disorientated. Marcus pushed passed and scanned the room.

"Keene!" he said, kneeling down by the collapsed nightkin.

"Over there," he murmured, pointing towards Doc Henry's research lab. "All these humans and ghouls... I told you it's a mistake to let them stay. Trouble is all they make. "

"Amy?" said Marcus, gesturing towards the lab.

"Got it."

She crept up towards the door between the two rooms with Marcus behind her, minding the broken glass and slowly twisted the door nob.

"Three... Two... One... Go!"

Amy yanked the door towards her as Marcus jumped into the open, his rifle at the ready.

"Wow, wow, wow," shouted Doc Henry from the smoking server bank. "Marcus! Amy! It's alright! Calm down. It was my fault."

"Your fault?" asked Marcus, lowering his gun and looking around the room. Close to the Doc was Calamity cleaning the shattered chemistry set.

"Yeah, I got a little ambitious with the transformer," he said, chuckling. "Melted the insulation and short circuited the whole damned thing," he chuckled. "At least the rectifier's still in once piece... just about."

"So it's not our visitor then?" said Marcus. "Where is she?"

A face with dark blonde bouncy hair poked out from behind the medical screen on the far side of the room. Her red lips widened into an innocent smile. "Right here, not causing any trouble, like you asked."

"She's been a godsend, actually," said the Doc. "Been helping me with my research into the night stalkers and the mark two."

"Oh, he's only exaggerating. You must be Amelia," said the stranger enthusiastically as she walked over to Amy and shook her hand. Amy noticed the pip-boy on her left wrist. "I've heard all about you from Marcus and Calamity here! I'm Liz."

"Amy, yes. Hi..." She stared at the stranger's face which she thought somehow looked familiar. Then it struck her. "You... You're that person who saved me from the thug in Freeside last night aren't you?"

"Hmm? Oh... Oh that was you?" she laughed. "Funny how I used to think the wasteland was such a large place."

"How did you get here so quickly?"

"I have a scooter."

"Scooter? What's that?"

"Erm, it's like a little motorbike. It's parked out back behind the lodge if you want to see it. Funny little thing, but he's proven to be quite useful so far."

"What brings you all the way up here then? We don't really get many visitors."

"Oh, you know, just... wondering the wastes again. I just got back from this quaint little trip, you see, so I thought I'd get my bearings again. Don't worry, I won't stay long. I'm about to head off again soon, actually." She looked down at her pip-boy to what Amy assumed was the time. "Have to be at Helios by tomorrow morning."

Amy froze.

"He- Helios?"

"The solar power plant south of Vegas."

"No, I know what Helios is. It's just... You're going there?"

"Yes, a friend said he needs some help with tweaking its output efficiency."

"Can... Can I go too?" Amy asked, hesitantly.

"Amy..." Marcus walked up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, frowning.

"Marcus... I need to. I've been running away from it for far too long now. I've got to see her."

Marcus sighed, then nodded. "If you're sure about it."

Amy turned back to face Liz. "If that's okay with you."

"Yes, please, by all means. How long do you need to get ready?"

"Half an hour would do."


	6. Chapter 6: Why I Left the Homestead

Might as well crank out a few more whilst I have the time. Enjoy it while it lasts... And don't forget to R&amp;R if you like it!

Chapter also contains some DLC **spoilers**, though I doubt that's new to anyone.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Old memories rushed through Amy's head as if the dam she had spent five years creating to keep them at bay had simply crumbled away, letting back out the horrors which had caused her all those sleepless nights. The gunfire ricocheting off the reflectors, the shouting of incoherent orders, the screaming, the bloody faces, Olivia...

She tried to concentrate on her packing.

"I hope you're not planning on running around wearing that, are you?"

Amy jumped and looked round to find Liz inspecting her knick knacks on the mantelpiece.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked, inspecting her recon armour.

"Attracts the wrong kind of attention, if you know what I mean," smiled Liz as she strolled over to the wardrobe and sifted through Amy's collection of outfits.

Amy thought back to the stares she got when she passed Westside yesterday morning. She was also going to be venturing very close to Brotherhood territory, and the last thing she would want is to be recognised. Perhaps walking around in a rare high-tech armour wasn't the best idea after all.

"Here, what about this?" said Liz, pulling out a dark brown polka dotted tea dress with a white lace peter pan collar. "This is far more fashionable."

"Are we worried about style or functionality, because that doesn't look very protective."

"Like that recon armour's going to stop a bullet. And hey, this blue dress's been enough to keep me alive all this time. You'll have fewer people shooting at you wearing this anyway, trust me."

She nodded and took the dress from her companion.

"I'll be waiting outside then."

* * *

The fusion powered electric motor of the little mint blue Vespa hummed gently as the two women rode along the winding road down from Mount Charleston. Liz had convinced Amy to ditch her bulky laser rifle too back at the lodge in favour of her RCW because it was "lighter", though she had a sneaking suspicion that really it was for the sake of style, which her new friend seemed to reek of. It was a pleasant change from the monotonous simplicity of living alongside Super Mutants, though, and Amy was quite thankful for that. Maybe her recent visit to Vegas had sparked up that old sense of curiosity she once had while wondering through the Mojave with Oliv...

Amy winced at the memory. Did she really make the right choice coming along? Was it still to early? She didn't know whether she had had enough time to mourn, or whether she had just been running away from it.

"You alright back there?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"So, erm... I've been meaning to ask. A bit out of the blue, I know, but erm... are you and Marcus... err.. you know?"

"What?" Amy blushed. "No! Why?"

Liz smiled. "I can see the way you look at each other. I was quite surprised you didn't kiss each other goodbye or something."

Amy remained silent. She couldn't deny there really was something between the two of them, even if they may never have admitted it. It probably would never have worked anyway. They were too different... But then again, this was the wasteland, where strange was the very norm.

"I can see why, he does seem like a really nice guy," she paused. "And he must have a really big..."

"Liz!" Amy squealed as Liz broke into laughter.

"What? I bet they do, all big and buff like that. He's quite well mannered too. Don't find many of them around, human, ghoul or mutant. And you don't even have to worry about birth control! Seems like just the perfect man!"

"Okay, Liz...," she whispered, now bright red with embarrassment. "Can we err... talk about something else now?"

Liz looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "Alright. What do you want to talk about then?"

"Erm... How about your story? Where are you from?"

"You're not going to get very far from our current topic with that question," chuckled Liz. "New Reno, the very capital of sin, vice and sex, that's where I'm from. You think Vegas is bad? Well imagine that, but on Jet. Was even where it was invented how my daddy tells it. Even Gomorrah seems tame compared to some of the places there. Gambling, sex and drugs round every corner, and oh boy, do I miss it."

"Why'd you leave then if you liked it so much?"

"Precisely for that reason. I love it so much I _wanted_ to be part of it. Just imagine it! All those eyes staring, all that lust and desire focused on you. The naughty things you could get up to, with a complete stranger no less. No judgement, no connection, just pure passion, anonymity and excitement! Oh I wanted it so much!

"But I couldn't. Daddy wouldn't let me. He's the head of one of the casinos, you see, and he didn't want me mixed up in what he considered slave work since I'd take his place one day. Wanted to preserve my image, though I suspect his as much too. And I couldn't really risk working for the other families either. Probably end up being blackmailed, kidnapped or killed. That or risk starting another war if daddy ever found out about it. So I started with what I could. You know, boyfriends, girlfriends, some even at the same time. Lost my virginity at 12, which is by the way quite late for Reno, but I don't regret a thing.

"Then I met Chantelle. She became one of the biggest attractions in New Reno within a month of starting work at our place, the Shark Club, back in '71. Dancing, stripping, whoring, you name it. There wasn't anything she couldn't do, and oh, was she good at it. Any time she was on stage she had the whole room drooling. Every man wanted her and every woman wanted to be her, and she relished every moment of it. Anyways, she caught me and my then two boyfriends getting it on in the store room one day, and after discovering my passion offered to be my mentor. Ended up teaching me everything I know, and she was a good friend too even though she was almost ten years older. She'd often hide me in her room so I could watch her and her clients.

"Come late 16, that's when Bruce came in as one of the singers at the club. Seduced me at the cards table in my very own casino, that wild bastard! Right under daddy's nose! Now _that_ takes some balls. We fooled around for a couple of months before he finally found out about us, and that's when it all fell apart. Apparently Bruce broke into daddy's safe or something, though he was long gone before anyone even noticed. Sent daddy right over the edge. At the same time he also heard from one of the other strippers about the things Chantelle and I got up to."

Liz paused for a moment, the witty smile in her face had all but vanished. "Had her shot. Machine gunned to death in her sleep..." She sighed. "And so I left. Took off that very night on this scooter and headed for Vegas. Also changed my last name to hers to avoid the attention.

"But on the plus side, I was finally free! Free to do what I've always wanted to, and New Vegas was where it was all going to start. Or so I thought it was. I signed up early on with the Omertas as a cage girl in Gomorrah early '75. I was only 17 at the time, and with the NCR close by, so they had to "play along" by their rules. The bosses soon saw talent in me though, thanks to Chantelle, and I suppose they heard about me secretly seducing some customers I liked, so as soon as I turned 18 they got me in big time: straight into service for VIPs of the Zoara Club, and it was there my dreams came true. Three wonderful years, among the best girls Gomorrah had to offer. Nero even liked me so much he put my ass on the posters advertising the place. Business boomed in the years to come as the NCR and travellers from far-off began to flood in. But that turned out to be my downfall.

"There was so much demand for prostitutes, you see, and the bosses began to saw a new way to capitalise on Gomorrah's finest. They tried to hook us all on chems: practically throwing them at us for free right off the production line. Their goal was to get us all hooked up and desperate for more so we'd have to work for anyone who wanted us to sate our addiction. Of course they'd charge a higher price for us than the rest of the girls, but we'd lose our exclusivity we had in the Zoara club, and now anyone with the caps could just walk in and have our way with us.

"The few of us who saw the ploy resisted, and slowly, we watched our unfortunate friends succumb to their addictions. But that wasn't enough for the bosses. They wanted all of us. Luckily some of our favourite clients took pity on us and helped us escape. I got out thanks to The King, so I pop round every so often to see him as a thank you. He's such a gentleman if you're on his good side.

"Anyways, I wondered the wasteland, looking for a new beginning. Then one day I came across this looping broadcast promising whomever came across it just that: a chance to "begin again", at a casino no less. The Sierra Madre."

"Sierra Madre?" whispered Amy. "I could've sworn I've heard that name before..."

And then she remembered.

"Section 3..."

"What's that?"

"Section 3. Rumours floating around when I was just a child back in the Brotherhood. They disappeared in '63. I must have been 5 or 6... The official story was they went scouting for lost tech near Nellis Air Force Base and got shot down by the Boomers. But apparently some said they disappeared whilst on a special mission for Elijah, our then Elder. Some said they went back to Mariposa, others said the Sierra Madre.

"Elijah, huh?" Liz grunted. "I bet he was real popular back when he was Elder."

Amy looked puzzled. "Erm... not really, he was quite unorthodox in his methods and ideology. Didn't go down too well with the other members of the council... you sound as if you know him."

"Oh I knew him alright. A bit more than I was comfortable with, actually. But more on that later. Where was I? Ah, yes. So after I got the broadcast, I, naïvely, I pounced at it. A friend of mine in Freeside helped track down the signal to an underground bunker just north of Nelson."

"Bunker 13... That's an old Brotherhood safe house! We abandoned it a few years before our battle with the NCR because of problems with the ventilation system."

"Oh there's a problem with it, alright. As soon as I stepped in this red mist started to fill the room, and the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground inside the Sierra Madre with a bomb collar round my neck, courtesy of our 'friend', Elijah."

Amy frowned. "As I said, his methods aren't always... conventional."

"I could tell. He wanted me and a few others to break into the vaults of the casino, where he was convinced held some great pre-war weapon of some sort. Turned out just to be a couple of gold bars and a broken hearted man's death trap. Luckily he was quite sentimental and left a warning, otherwise I might still be trapped in that god awful vault. Oh, and there was someone else from the Brotherhood too. A captive, like me. Christine. Apparently sent by the Brotherhood to track down and kill Elijah."

"Christine Royce? I knew her. How is she?"

"She's better now... Elijah did some quite horrific things to her over the years, but she's recovering... Insisted she'd stay at the Casino to watch over it when I left."

"And what about Elijah?"

"Well after three days of him constantly trying to get me killed and hearing about all the other unfortunate souls he's tortured and murdered for the cause of his heist, I decided tricking him into locking himself in that miserable death trap was the least I could do... I guess one thing I have to be thankful for that came out of the whole kerfuffle are my survival skills. You really do learn something when you're constantly hunted down day and night by mindless zombies..."

"So... Elijah's pretty much locked up for good now?"

"With a bit of luck, yes."

Amy frowned. She wasn't sure how she felt about what happened to her former Elder. On the one hand, she admired his ideology of studying technology so that they could be reintroduced to the wasteland to help its populace. But now, especially from her new friend's story, it seems that all that was left of the great, if not strange, old man was nothing more than a shell of his former self, bent on power, knowledge and revenge. Perhaps the world was better off with one less megalomaniac to worry about.

"After I got back," continued Liz. "I joined up with the Followers of the Apocalypse. I guess after seeing the devastation and manipulation one man could cause upon the world changed me. I didn't have much skill when it comes to agriculture or medicine though, so I ended up becoming a courier for them, mostly delivering supplies to the Divide before it became the dust ball it is today. Guess I was lucky when the bombs activated: I was on my way back there just before it happened.

"After that I got reassigned to help a caravan company re-establish connections with New Canaan and ended up getting mixed up in a tribal war along the way in Zion. Nice place though. Even got quite wild and serious with one of the tribals from there," she giggled. "Convinced him to go out exploring the wasteland... I hope he's doing alright for himself.

"Anyway soon after I got back I decided to take a job on the side for the Mojave Express before continuing my work with the Followers. Turned out to be a bad mistake. I was intercepted and shot in the head by one of the Vegas casino bosses over a platinum poker chip I was supposed to deliver. Luckily I survived and a wasteland doctor managed to patch me up, and so here I am. Haven't really gotten to the bottom of this one yet though. Situation seems far more complex than what it appears to be. But yeah, that's pretty much me summed up. What about you, Amy? What's your story?"


	7. Chapter 7: Sisterhood

Procrastination = more writing, yay! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Well, I guess you now know that I was once part of the Brotherhood. Dad was a scribe, and mom a paladin... Yeah, I know. Not what you would normally expect, is it? For the first few years I was grew up with others my age in the bunker, even though Helios One was "officially" our headquarters. Some of the good old seniors had managed to convince Elijah to at least keep the young there because... well you've seen it yourself, not exactly a secure location is it? Especially with the gradual arrival of the NCR.

"My childhood was... great I guess, by wasteland standards. I actually loved being part of the Brotherhood at the time. Technology around every corner... Guess you realise it spoils you a bit once you're thrown out into the "real world". You know, cooked meals, clean water, warm beds... Not exactly common resources these days.

"But even so, I could barely wait until it was my time to leave the bunker. I wanted to go out into the wasteland and explore all its mysteries! My best friend, Olivia, and I would stay up all night pretending, making up stories about the adventures we'd have: secret missions we'd be sent on, the people and creatures we'd encounter, the sights we'd see... we could barely contain ourselves!

"So finally at 14 when we had to pick a role to start training for, Livvy and I naturally chose to be a Paladin. I guess I also wanted to do my mom proud, her being one of the Senior Paladins and all. Anyhow, two years later and there we were, two Junior Paladin gals wondering the lonely wastes, hunting for lost tech for the Brotherhood. It was everything we had hoped for. But there was something we didn't expect."

Amy paused, her mouth a half open smile and her eyes lost in though as she tried to think of how to not come off as condescending with what she had to say.

"In the Brotherhood," she began slowly. "Everyone is taught that people in the outside world are all... uneducated... irresponsible savages and can't be trusted with any form of technology."

She then recited the words which had been drilled into her head ever since she was just a child, though this time a little satirical. "_It is therefore the Brotherhood's duty to hunt down and confiscate all dangerous lost pieces of technology to keep it out of the hands of the uninitiated and to make certain they aren't abused by the wrong people_. Everyone believed this," She added, "Including me. But then we met Sam.

"We first met him when Livvy and I were scouting the REPCONN headquarters back in '74. Apparently one of the scribes found files in Helios' computer banks about some prototype weapon plans which had been stolen by REPCONN, and it didn't take long until our instructor Paladin Hardin set us up with the mission of acquiring further information. I think it was the second day while we were in the planetarium when suddenly this guy quite literally fell through the ceiling. Livvy almost vaporised him thinking he was a Deathclaw!"

Amy chuckled. "Didn't do our stereotype of outsiders any good either with a first impression like that, but in the months to come he opened our minds to more than just what he called "Brotherhood propaganda". He was with the Followers, who had set up an outpost not far away to the east. They were hoping to salvage some useful parts from equipment in the building, and Sam was halfway through dismantling the air conditioning filtration unit when the roof gave way.

"He told us about the ideals of the Followers and how it would be much more useful for the Brotherhood to help teach locals how use technology rather than taking it away from them. He filled us with all sorts of ideas of how to save the wasteland. It also didn't take much longer after that for Livvy to fall for him, even though he was a few years older than us, and oh you should have seen them. They were almost inseparable!

"And at about the same time back in the Brotherhood we began to hear rumours leaking out from the Lost Hills about the Capital Wasteland chapter. By official accounts we were told that they had lost contact with the East Coast expedition some time after '55, but that was a cover up! It turns out that the expedition did in fact reach the Capital Wasteland, but the council decided to cut off support to them after the expedition's leader changed their mission priority to helping the locals instead of hunting tech, and kept other chapters in the dark in case they may be inspired by their example.

"Soon after Livvy and I joined a few others who shared similar views, and we began planning on how we could slowly steer our chapter onto a similar path. But before we could put our plans into action, the NCR began arriving en masse. Priorities soon shifted and before we knew it we were at war.

"Our technology and knowledge of the area gave us a massive advantage during the first few months, and it was soon pretty clear that Brotherhood were easily gaining the upper hand. But the NCR soon saw that too, and so they began their campaign to eliminate us out from the source: Operation Sunburst. And in '76, they came. 3000 of them. Everyone knew it was suicide to stay at Helios, and everyone knew our chances would more than triple if we retreated to the bunkers and set up our stand there. But Elijah... That man and his obsession led us to our slaughter! And Livvy..."

Amy paused and swallowed hard, but it didn't help. Tears flooded down her cheeks as she began to weep again as she once did all those years ago.

Liz stopped the little scooter and took her passenger's hands in her own.

"Amy..."

Amy embraced her new friend and sobbed into her shoulder.

"She was barely nineteen!" she said, choking on her own tears. "Nineteen and so full of life!"

Liz patted the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry, Amy. I'm so sorry."

"I carried her..." she continued. "Through the mirror yards back to the power plant when our second line of defence fell, only to find that butcher abandoned us.

"McNamara took charge and ordered a retreat, but I knew I couldn't go back, not after what happened. Not after Livvy. And so after I... buried her, I ran. Ran and never looked back, and I've been running from it ever since.

"I met up with Sam. Tell him the news and... I've never seen anyone fall apart like that before. I don't suppose I was in much of a better state either. He pleaded for me to stay... join the Followers, but I couldn't... I know I should have but... every time I looked at him I saw her, and it was too much. So I ran until I found Jacobstown when Marcus took me in, and I've been there ever since.

"But... I think it's time I finally face the truth. Thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you for bringing me."

Liz pulled back and smiled.

"Anything you need, just let me know okay? We're in this together now."

Amy nodded.

"Come on, let's get moving again. It's going to get dark soon."


	8. Chapter 8: The Fantastic Sun

**Chapter 8**

It was late morning when Amy and Liz reached Olivia's grave in the mountain ravine, west of the Helios power station. Amy lay down the bouquet of desert wild flowers by the headstone and stood back up, her teary eyes fixed on the carving of her friend's name embedded deep in the wood, lost in thought. Liz placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Amy closed her eyes and nodded, before taking a deep breath.

"I should have come here ages ago..."

"Well, you have now," said Liz with a gentle, comforting smile.

Amy ran her fingers across the headstone, then turned to Liz.

"Let's go," she murmured before turning around and began walking back to the power station.

Liz sighed, looked at the grave one more time before jogging over to catch up with her partner.

"You know we can stay here longer if you want," she said.

"It's okay. I've seen what I had to. Besides, don't you have an appointment to keep?"

Liz looked down at her Pipboy. "There's no rush, we've still got some time."

"What is it exactly that we're doing here anyway?" asked Amy, trying to change the subject.

"A friend of mine in the Followers asked for some help. He's been trying to get the power station up and running again since the NCR took control. Apparently he's been having some trouble with the man leading the project."

"So we're helping the NCR?" Amy asked bitterly.

"Well... we'll also be helping the Mojave by providing power to the people if we succeed. Are you okay doing this?"

Amy breathed deeply.

"Yes. But for the Mojave, not the NCR."

* * *

The giant structure loomed over the two travellers as they approached the entrance of the power plant.

"Halt!" called out the NCR lieutenant. "This is a restricted area. State your business!"

"I was asked to come here by Mr Rivas," said Liz. "He wants our help fixing up the plant."

"More people? How many are you going to need to get this place running again?"

"Well I guess that depends on what the problem is exactly, but I doubt we'd need any more."

The lieutenant sighed. "That's what the idiot with the sunglasses said. Alright, head on it, they're all the way at the back of the facility. You'd better be the last ones though. We're short on supplies, and our next cache doesn't arrive for another week."

She nodded at the guards who opened the door and let the pair in.

"_Home sweet home_," Amy muttered sarcastically as she breathed in the stale air.

Liz looked around inquisitively. "Erm, I'm not exactly sure which way to go..."

"They'll be in the control room. This way, follow me."

Amy led her friend through the familiar war torn corridors and metal catwalks until they reached a brightly lit room in the basement filled with humming control panels. A man in a lab coat and sunglasses stooped over the largest one, slowly pushing little balls of scrunched up papers into a sparking connection port with a pencil. Liz cleared her throat.

"Oh hey there little ladies," he said, turning around. "The toilets are back upstairs."

"We're not here for the toilets," said Liz. "We're here for-"

"Whatever you're here for won't be down here, babe. Down here is where the _Fantastic_ shit happens... and you don't look very fantastic."

He paused and eyed the two girls more thoroughly.

"Although I could escort you to the toilets to show you something truly _Fantastic_."

"No thanks," said Liz as the two girls glared at him. "However if you could 'escort' us to Ignacio Rivas instead, that would be nice."

"Ignacio? What do you want with that loser?" asked the man defensively.

"He told us he needed help getting this place up and running again."

"Help? I don't need help! I've got this whole operation under control!"

He folded his arms and leaned back against the console behind him.

"It's so like him to go out asking for help, trying to undermine my progress and claim my feats as his own! Or maybe... Maybe he's trying to get to my codes to open that vault full of naked women before I do! I knew it! I knew that place was real!"

Amy and Liz glanced at each other, sighing.

"It probably doesn't matter though, cause you two girls don't look like you'd be able to understand even the simplest of the complexities in this place anyway."

"I'm sorry?" asked Amy, raising and eyebrow.

"Look around you, girlies! Does anything here look like something a girl like you would even begin to understand? I mean it takes _me_ ages to figure out what any of this silly old shit does, and I'm the one and only Mr Fantastic! Any other man wouldn't even stand a chance, and you're not even a man! Girls like you are all the same. They all think they're better, but all they do is just whine, whine, whine and whine. I can't even imagine why the stupid whatever's his name would even want you two-"

Liz rolled her eyes and glanced over to the console to her right. Flicking the circuit breaker, the console behind Fantastic began sparking furiously as he ducked down to the floor, cowering.

"Aaaah! No! Turn it off! Turn it off!" he screamed, eyes shut in fear.

Liz flicked the switch again, turning off the power.

"What the fuck did you do!? You could have killed me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Liz taunted him. "Please don't get mad at me. I'm just a naïve young girl who doesn't know what she's doing."

"Well then don't touch anything!" Fantastic stood back up and shooed her away from the console.

"Can you please take us to see Ignacio?" she asked in an innocent voice and a puppy face.

"Alright, Fine! He's through that door messing around with pointless consoles. Now don't bother me, I need to get back to my work."

Fantastic turned his attention to the console Liz was using and began pushing all the buttons, trying to figure out what she had done and how to get the sparks back. The two girls looked at each other and shook their heads before heading into the back room where the idiot had pointed to.

"Oh Elizabeth, there you are!" greeted man inside. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"We were held up by your, err, 'problem'."

"You've already met him then. Don't worry, you'll get used to him and his incompetence after a while. All he ever does is dawdle aimlessly around the intercom desk."

Liz chuckled, then turned to Amy.

"Amy, this is Ignacio Rivas. He's with the Followers of the Apocalypse. Iggy, this is my friend Amy."

"Nice to meet you," greeted Amy.

"Likewise. Tell me, do you have any experience with electronic engineering?"

"Somewhat, yes, but I pretty much know the systems in this place inside out if that's what your asking."

"Oh? And how is that?"

"I used be with the Brotherhood."

Ignacio shot a worried look at Liz, hoping for an explanation.

"Don't worry," said Amy. "I'm not with them anymore, and I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Well I hope for all our sakes that you say who you are, especially with the powers at play here."

"What do you mean?" asked Liz.

"Why don't you ask your Brotherhood friend? I'm sure she knows a lot more about it than I do."

Liz looked at Amy, who took a deep breath and sighed.

"I assume he's talking about the weapon our ex-Elder was looking for. Look, there's nothing here! Elijah spent decades tearing this whole place apart looking for it. Suffice to say he never found anything, or if he did it's probably long gone now!"

"That's not what the records here show!" spat Ignacio.

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"Guys!," Liz said, stepping in. "Calm down. Iggy, stop worrying. She's not with the Brotherhood any more. She just wants to help, and I think we could do with her expertise. Now why don't you tell us what you know so we can all get to work?"

Ignacio looked at the two girls for a moment.

"Fine. But just for the record, I still don't trust her."

He moved over to the table and unfolded a map of the facility.

"This power station creates electricity by reflecting sunlight and focusing it onto a point in the solar tower. The heat is used to boil water to produce steam which turns the turbines, and hence the generators, but thanks to the Brotherhood and that idiot in the other room, the mirrors are out of alignment and we are stuck producing a measly 1% of the peak efficiency. We need to therefore find a way to realign the mirrors and recalibrate the power distribution settings.

"From what I can tell, there's a problem with the connection between the mainframe and the reflector control terminals outside. Unfortunately again, one of the control terminals is now being used as a dog pen for NCR attack dogs, and from what I'm told they're pretty vicious things, while the other is full of traps left behind by the Brotherhood. Somehow you twp are going to have to get in there and re-establish connection with the mainframe."

"That might not be necessary," said Amy, skimming through circuit diagrams on a terminal. "It looks like I might be able to bypass the control terminals from here. We'd still have to calibrate the power distribution and re-target the mirrors using consoles in the tower though."

Liz smiled. "See Iggy, I told you she might come in handy."

Ignacio grumbled and went back to his work.


	9. Chapter 9: Magnets and Coils

**Chapter 9**

The terminal keyboard clicked rapidly as Amy scanned through the system's schematics for the alternate route she could use to bypass the reflector control and connect the mirrors directly to the mainframe when Fantastic skipped over towards her.

"Hey there sweetie," he said cheerily.

"Yeah, hi," she murmured, eyes fixed on the screen.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm trying to bypass the two external control terminals by rerouting the signal through the mirror status monitoring subsystem to reestablish a direct connection between the mirrors and the computer mainframe."

"You know that nothing you just said makes any sense right?" said Fantastic after a long pause. "I'll tell you what. Move over. I can load up a game of Pong and we can play together if you want."

"I'm fine, thank you."

"You two really need to stop pretending you know what you're doing and messing around with these consoles. You could blow this whole place up if you're not careful."

"Not with the amount of power we're getting at the moment," Amy muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing... Nothing."

"You know I found the access code for the western terminal written on the bathroom wall? But I can't remember what it is... Perhaps the two of us could go to the upstairs bathroom and look for it together?"

Amy sighed, turned to face her interloper and smiled sarcastically.

"No thanks," she hissed, before turning back to the terminal and continuing with her work.

Fantastic made a face at her before he dawdled across the room over to Liz, on her knees inspecting the underside of a control panel.

"Heyyy there," he grinned, inspecting Liz's underside. "What're _you_ doing?"

"I'm checking if all the interface connections in this room are still grounded."

"Why?"

"So that the connection port you keep pushing stuff into stops short circuiting and sparking."

"Aww, but I love the sparks! I have a better idea of how to spend your time."

"Oh," said Liz in the most unenthusiastic way she could.

"I think you'd better check the connection between us. There's obviously one missing between our ports."

"You'd better back off, sunshine, or I'm going to short circuit _you_."

Fantastic stormed off to the middle of the room.

"You two are the fraud's groupies aren't you?!" he yelled out. "I know you are, and you're just pretending to be doing stuff so no one gets suspicious! Well you can't fool me, girls! Fantastic sees all!"

"Yawn..." Liz called out sarcastically.

"Whatever you girls are doing with him, I want in! I know you both want me too, so let's cut the bullshit and get right to it!"

Liz let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes, but then smiled mischievously as an idea popped into her head. Turning around, she flung herself at Fantastic, pinning him against the wall with her body.

"Ahhh! Wh- What... what the fuck are you doing?!" he stammered.

Her open hand shot forwards in response, engulfing his rock hard manhood through the fabric as she began teasing his trembling shaft.

"You're right," she whispered into his face, pushing her forehead and nose against his. "Amy and I've been dying for you to fuck our brains out ever since we got here, and well... we've been fighting over who will get the first go with you."

With that, she began gliding her thumb across his blazing tip. Fantastic shook violently, grabbing the coolant pipe behind him for support and began whimpering uncontrollably as he tried to regain his cocky persona, only to lose more of himself with every single wriggle of Liz's fingers.

"Y-you don't... h-have I... can -ugh- b-b-both of y-hou... s-same time."

Liz chuckled, allowing her every breath to tease her prisoner's quaking lips. Grabbing the back of his head with her free hand, she pulled his face into hers as their lips approached, the promise of a kiss impending, only to have her brush past in a narrow escape to his ear.

"How about something better?" she murmured. "After all, a man of your calibre deserves... something special."

Liz began to sway his throbbing shaft from side to side. "Remember that vault full of naked women of yours? What if I can make it... a reality?"

He let out a pathetic wail of sheer terror and excitement.

"We have a few... naughty friends I'm sure would _love_ to meet you."

"Ha... ho... How m-many?"

Liz smiled. "I'll let you count yourself, big boy. Pussy. By. Pussy."

His cock instantly pushed itself deeper into her tight grip as she gave his cock several relieving strokes before relaying him her final instructions.

"Meet us on the cat walk by the upstairs control room in half an hour, and I promise you... the time of your life. In the mean time, you'd better start thinking about which one of our sweet juicy cherries you'd like to explore first. Oh and one last thing, make sure you come _naked_. Don't want to waste any more time than we have to now do we?"

And with that Liz released him from her web and left her dysfunctional prey to hopelessly disintegrate into a sorry puddle on the floor, his hands furiously rushing in to pamper the void in his forsaken core.

"I don't suppose you have any hand sanitiser with you right now, do you?" Liz whispered to a befuddled Amy once she was out of Fantastic's earshot.

"No," was all she managed after a long pause, still trying to process the sight that had occurred right before her eyes. "How... What?"

"Men," Liz smiled. "That's how they tick. Gets them every time."

"Err... right," Amy nodded, still a little dazed.

"Come on then!" said Liz, dusting her hands before pulling Amy to her feet. "Let's get going. We've got appointments to make."

"Wait, you're not actually seriously thinking of... With that sorry old sack?!"

"Of course not, Amy!" she laughed. "But we're certainly going to have a different kind of fun!"

* * *

"Lieutenant Haggerty!" said Liz as she merrily skipped towards the NCR officer. "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Yes, Ms. Swansea? Any progress on the power output?"

"Not yet, but we're optimistic we're getting somewhere. In fact, Fantastic asked me to deliver you a message. He said "something big's come up" and he wants to personally show it to you."

"But I'm no engineer, what could he want me for?"

"He told me you'll understand when you see it. I don't know what it is but he seems really excited about it. Meet him at 1300 on the second floor cat walk inside the main building."

* * *

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Looks like someone's come early to cut the queue! Oh, I should have known, little Lieutenant Lucy!"

"Fantastic," said the lieutenant as she turned around, only to look back in disgust at the sight the fully nude man standing in the doorway, proudly flaunting his erect penis. "What the fuck?!"

"I know right?" he laughed smugly. "They do call me Fantastic for a reason. Now normally I don't like giving people special treatment, but since we're both early, I'm sure the others won't mind if we begin without them. We can... tell them you were warming me up for the party."

"Fantastic, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Lieut Lu, everyone know I've been on your mind every night ever since I arrived here. No woman could ever resist Fantastic! But guess what, I have good news! I've been thinking about you a lot too! And now you get the honours to start me off! Just... take it slowly, okay? I... err... want the other girls to get the good stuff too."

"Fantastic, why the fuck are you naked?"

"Lieu Lu, the _real_ questions is why aren't _you_ naked?"

"Stop this! And stop calling me _Lulu_! You said you have something to show me that will help us get this place up and running again."

"Oh we're playing that game are we? Alright, Lieutenant Haggerty! Let's see... maybe I can get more power if you let me me stick my jack into your socket! Or what about... You discharge my tesla coil with your Van der Graaff spheres? Oh I have another good one... how about we hook you to the main generator I move my magnet between your coils!"

"Stop it!"

"You can rub my rod and we can see if your hair sticks to it!"

"I said stop it, Fantastic! That's an order!"

"Alright, alright. You could have told me earlier you wanted to stick to your military roots. How about we stop the science talk and we practice some precision drilling?"

"Fantastic, stop or I will have you removed from these premises."

"You are a naughty girl, playing hard to get like that! But come on, Lucy, let's skip the foreplay and get right to it!"

Fantastic lunged himself at the lieutenant, but she was ready for him and with a clean move she grabbed his torso, threw him over her shoulder and onto his back on the cold metal ground.

"Fantastic you are hereby charged with attempted sexual assault and physically attacking an officer."

She picked up the groaning man and headed downstairs to the northern exit.

"You are however not a citizen of the NCR, so I don't have any jurisdiction over you, so consider this your first and final warning."

Opening the door, she threw him out into baking sun of the mirror yard.

"So you stay out here until whatever it is you're taking wears off. And if you ever fall out of line or touch one of my officers again, I'll be throwing you out the other door instead!"

* * *

The soft sound of footsteps echoed through the metal corridor as they approached the command room. It was Fantastic. Amy watched as he slowly stumbled through the doorway, slunk across the room and fell into his chair as he began rummaging through his desk for some Mentats.

"Liz, we've got company."

Liz poked her head in from the corridor and chuckled.

"You two!" he coughed, pointing at Liz. "You lied to me!"

"Lied to you? What do you mean?" she asked, her voice once again full of innocence.

"You lied to me about my vault girls!"

"I did not!" she spat back at him, offended. "_You_ never showed up! Right Amy?"

He grunted at them, confused.

"Yeah..." said Amy, hesitantly. "I... waited ages for you. We all did."

"Amy's very disappointed with you! She's been dying for someone to fuck her tight little ass for days now!"

Fantastic let out a squeal of disappointment.

"Liz!?" gasped Amy, turning all red.

Liz grinned and winked at Amy.

"Could- Couldn't we do it now?" he pleaded.

"No!" snapped Amy before Liz could say anything.

"You missed your only chance, Fantastic. We sure had a great time, even without you."

Fantastic let out a cry as he pushed pass Liz and ran back out of the room. She began laughing before pulling over a chair and sat down next to Amy.

"Well at least we'll have some peace for a few hours."


End file.
